Well, everyone, looks like Aldy's going to meet some canon faces this chapter!
Though...he has no idea what's in store for him as to what's become of Pyrrhia while he was gone.
Also, here's a little reminder as to how the dragon aging system in THIS fic will work (as the canon one is so vague and inconsistent), at least on the "dragonet end". Left side is dragon age, and right side is roughly-equivalent human age, mental-maturity-wise.
1 Year Old = ~10 Years Old
2 Years Old = ~11 Years Old
3 Years Old = ~12 Years Old
4 Years Old = ~13 Years Old
5 Years Old = ~14 Years Old
6 Years Old = ~15 Years Old
7 Years Old = ~16 Years Old
8 Years Old = ~17 Years Old
9 Years Old = ~18 Years Old
10 Years Old = ~19 Years Old
11 Years Old (Adult) = ~20 Years Old
So, a few things I'll say here...
First, yeah, I know, a 1 year old dragonet already being on level with a 10-year-old human child when it comes to maturity can seem to be a bit of a leap in logic at first. But keep in mind that while they are being COMPARED to humans here, they are NOT humans, and so they most likely work differently in some ways. For one thing, according to the canon series, they remain in their eggs for roughly a year before they hatch (a period that's just under 3 months longer than how long humans take to 'hatch', so to speak), so they develop in there for longer. I'm taking this into account, and for another thing, I'm drawing inspiration from lizards (particularly monitor lizards) and crocodilians, as while hatchling lizards and crocodilians are clearly 'babies' due to their tiny sizes compared to adults (though to what degree depends on the type, of course), they can still do most of the things that their adult counterparts can (things like walking/climbing/running or hunting/foraging), just to a smaller degree than those adult counterparts. With my system of dragon aging in this story, this will be reflected in that, while still having to learn to fly and talk, hatchling dragonets tend to start to learn how to do the latter MUCH earlier than human infants do, and while still needing assistance from adults, they're not nearly as helpless as human infants are either, and already have their hunting instincts to go after rodents and other small animals. With all THIS in mind, them being on level with 10-year-old children at 1 year old doesn't seem THAT far-fetched for this system.
Second, I'm fully aware that with the above, as well as with how the age of dragons becoming adults is now 11 years old rather than the canonical 7, I have effectively made some characters older, and others younger, than in canon. I know, guys, I know. I'm going to take it into account when I get to those characters. Also, I'm going to make sure that those characters act at least SOMEWHAT like their age (key word somewhat, of course; sometimes, characters may obviously act more or less mature than their ages may suggest).
And third, I know, I know, I've effectively made it with this system that dragonets are going to effectively be teenagers for the majority of the time that they're, well, dragonets. I will admit that this is partially because I find the idea of a species that does such while being that much larger than humans to be funny. In other words, teenage issues and antics and hijinks and whatnot meets the square-cube law.
Overall, though, the goal here is consistency (or, at least, more of it). No vagueness, no instances of one dragonet acting like a human 13-year-old and another acting like a HUMAN two-year-old despite being the same chronological age, no more confusion. At least for this story.
Maybe I'm not being entirely accurate with regards to certain things with regards to my reasons for the whole aging things...but, well, it's what were rolling with.
Okay, that's more than long enough...ON WITH THE STORY!
CHAPTER 2: DRAGONS ARE NOT SLAVES, 1/2
The frigid roaring air above, below, and around Altamir as he now flew over snow-covered Central Pyrrhia and into snow-buried North Central Pyrrhia at high speed...it was a match for his whirring, whirling mind that had absolutely no idea what in the name of the gods was going on and was still trying to piece that together while he was in flight.
First, there was where and how he ended up waking up before going on this flight. Last thing he remembered from "last night", he was going to sleep as he usually did in that bed of his in mid-spring, when it was warm. Nothing was out of the ordinary, nothing was unusual, nothing was out of place. It was a perfectly normal night.
But rather than also waking up there, he'd instead found himself waking up in this...this mountain cave on the east side of the south central portion of the Iapetos Mountains that had already had both a dragon and a human living in it...and it was also now winter. Winter. And on top of that, Altamir had this strange sense that he had somehow died and was brought back to life, for some reason.
Second, the aforementioned dragon and human. That there was a dragon and a human living together in a cave was not the unusual thing here (if Altamir were to say that, he'd be an enormous hypocrite). No, what WAS unusual was that both of them were animi. Granted, Animi were still quite rare to begin with, but Dragon Animi were still far, far, FAR more common, with at least a few usually being alive at a time somewhere on the continent...while Human Animi (like himself) were quite literally born hundreds of years apart. To see two animi, one each of both dragon and human, living in the same cave...what were the odds?
And he had this creeping suspicion that they had somehow managed to...bring him back to life?
He knew not why they did this...perhaps they were curious as to whether or not they could do this? Perhaps they did it to see what would happen?
Perhaps they...needed him for something?
Their potential reasoning aside, Altamir didn't know what to think of that. On the one hand, he'd developed a belief in "the natural order of things" when it came to death; when someone died, that someone was to stay dead. On the other hand, they at least weren't malicious with their intentions, as far as he could tell, and he had to admit that he was impressed that they had proven that such a thing could be done.
Oh, and there was also that while the Dragon, who was a SkyWing (yes, he'd taken to, over the years, referring dragon tribes the way that the dragons themselves did, rather than how he used to do so the typical 'human' way), had the name of "Maroon", which was a perfectly normal name for his tribe and likely came from his brownish-red scale color, the human (who was chronologically the same age, 14, as the brownish-red SkyWing, but was a teenager compared to Maroon's being a young adult)...well, his name (yes, both were male) was "Acorn". Acorn. Now, Altamir wasn't any stranger to seemingly odd naming customs - his mother (and by extension one of his Dragon Companions of old) had a name that literally meant "Pox Girl" for the love of the gods - but at least in that case, it had a purpose that wasn't humiliation (namely, to ward off evil spirits and make them leave the child in question alone).
And yet...Acorn? Taken directly from a word in a Common Tongue, a commonly-used one at that, and after something so small and diminutive? That...that sounded more like someone would name their pet rather than something that someone would name their own son or daughter. "Ablai" or "Ambaghai" or "Aradai" were other names from his own people that also started with the letter "A", but were quite normal and didn't sound like something one would name, say...a hamster.
Though...if there was a name to match the young man's personality (somewhat flippant and short-tempered, but with a good heart in there), it would probably be something like..."Berke". Another name from his people that meant "stubborn". A trait that was neither necessarily a bad thing or a good thing. Anything that was a proper human name, and not something for a pet rat.
Speaking of humans...that was the third thing that was on his mind...namely, with regards to a burning question that he had right now...
...where in the name of the gods did all the people go?
Yes, to be clear, it WAS, well, winter, and basically the height of it, at that. And winters in this part of Pyrrhia could be very, very, very nasty. No sane person wanted to be out in this weather, this cold, the sort that could literally freeze someone's hide off...the only way that one could feasibly go out would be in various layers of heavy clothing...perhaps to hunt game or clear snow off of their homes and other structures. As a result, Altamir would have been unlikely to see anyone out and about, even (and especially) from this distance.
But, obviously, he'd still be able to see (or at least make out) the buildings and structures of the various towns and cities below, even if they were covered in snow. That, and while this part of Pyrrhia (specifically, the eastern, inward-curving edge of the Iapetos Mountains) wasn't exactly that densely populated, there were absolutely still towns and cities in this area the last time he checked (and a fair few, in fact; there were more than a few trade routes that ran through the mountains under his rule, and cities had sprung up along these routes with time), so he most certainly should have been able to see plenty of buildings and structures along the way.
And yet...that was not the case. At all.
Instead...all that Altamir had seen during this flight of his was a single village. One village. One. Village. And that was...it. Otherwise, when it came to humans, he not only saw not a single soul otherwise, but didn't see any human structures, as if none had ever existed in such a location in the first place.
This...more than disturbed Altamir. Where were all of the other towns and cities and villages that he otherwise would and should have seen while flying overhead like this? It's like they had all vanished into thin air! Had something happened to them long ago that either caused them to move away or, worse, be wiped out? Or...
...oh, no...no no no no no, NO! Damn it, not right now! He couldn't think about that! He was on a mission! He had a task to fulfill!
Right...his task. That was the fourth and final thing on his mind at the moment, and it was the reason why he was going where he was going (having used the powers he had to turn himself invisible to all but himself). Apparently, Maroon was a prince of the SkyWings in self-exile who had fled the palace because his mother, the current queen...was a bloody tyrant. And when Altamir had asked for details on that...
"Ah...so this 'Scarlet' is of the 'Mad Queen' sort, isn't she." Altamir had disliked having had to start burying his native accent not that long after he'd originally become the ruler of Pyrrhia in exchange for a more 'common' one, but he'd wanted to make himself easy to understand.
"One way of putting it, unfortunately." Maroon clearly did not enjoy discussing his mother. "Even if you didn't know what she was like, the fact that she's gone through six different kings during her at-least-30-year-long rule would be a tip-off...I was the youngest egg of the last king. She rules her family and the SkyWings with an iron talon. She very harshly punishes anyone who questions their orders or her style of ruling, often in 'creative' ways, and she sometimes had dragonets just so that she could kill them if they weren't slavishly loyal to her, and sometimes even if they were, when they were older. She believes that every dragon is hers to torment, and tends to see other dragons as just playthings more than anything. It's even worse if the dragons in question aren't SkyWings. In that case, being a plaything is the only purpose they'll have for her at all. I remember one time when I was a little dragonet, and I was wanting to please her, and asked how I could make her happy. Scarlet responded by taking a terrified little SeaWing dragonet and dropping her in front of me, and telling me to kill her. When I didn't, Scarlet responded by eating that poor little SeaWing in front of me, and telling me that I had not made her happy at all."
Altamir physically recoiled at hearing this from the SkyWing. "Oh for...by the gods, she's fucked up in the head!"
"I know...she is." Maroon sighed again. "You could say that again with regards to all the things she's done that no queen, or dragon, for that matter, should ever do. But most of the worst things that she does happen in an arena that she built near her palace. For the past twenty years, there's been a war going on called the 'War of SandWing Succession', a war between three SandWing sisters, Burn, Blister, and Blaze, who are fighting over who has the right to the SandWing throne after their mother, Queen Oasis, was killed by a group of scav...er, humans. Anyways, Scarlet supports Burn, who's the most bloodthirsty of the three sisters, and who is all too glad to give her her prisoners of war. Scarlet then takes those prisoners and makes them fight each other for her own amusement. She loves seeing them tear each other apart, and loves the bloodshed that results, finding it 'thrilling'."
Altamir, already sickened by this Mad Queen's deeds as a ruler, steadily grew angrier and angrier as he heard more about her. Damn it...of course something like this would happen without him to 'regulate' things.
Maroon then continued about the mad queen's practices with those prisoners that she had, clearly disgusted by what he'd seen. "Aside from seeing them shed blood, she also has a thing for tormenting her prisoners that she has. If two or more prisoners care about each other dearly, like close friends, siblings, parents and children...she may or may not make them fight each other. If a prisoner refuses to fight another prisoner, she 'punishes' that prisoner by depriving them of food and water until they're desperate enough to do anything to get some. And she also likes to bait them with the promise of letting them go if they win enough battles, and also a tradition called the 'Champion's Shield'. With the former, she promises that, if a prisoner wins enough times against other prisoners, then she will let them go free. What really happens is that she either constantly increases the number of wins they need to go free so that they are more or less indefinitely stuck, or she DOES let them go free...only to then kill them when no one is looking. And with the latter, the Champion's Shield is a tradition that, in theory, allows the arena's current champion to fight for a prisoner in order to secure their release. In reality...Scarlet tends to skew it against the champion in some way in order to make them lose, so that the prisoner will be doomed to die."
"...so that's all?" Altamir asked upon Maroon stopping, his blood now boiling.
"Well...enough to get the point, anyways." Maroon answered. "Point is, Scarlet is the last dragon I'd ever have wanted as a mother, and that's why I ran away from her, ditched all of the royal jewelry and whatnot, and changed my name when I was six."
"She's bad news, Aldy." Acorn, who had apparently picked up on that common nickname for him (not that he really minded), added. "There's a damn good reason why the two of us tend to hide from everyone else if we can. To make sure she doesn't find us."
"...Karmin aided me in getting rid of tyranny...and now this descendant of hers acts like Wērōd and Honorius put together." Altamir grumbled again. "The likes of Scarlet are a blight upon this continent...there's only one good antidote for that." He knew full well that it was time to become the 'Tyrantslayer' again. 'Tyrantslayer'...that was an epithet that he'd picked up among his supporters after he'd struck down the two aforementioned, well, tyrants, as well as Phrahatava back when he was twelve, and also the various nobles who were Wērōd's and Honorius's lap dogs and complicit in their respective atrocities, and then the various slavers (as well as the 'slave owners' who refused to voluntarily give up the people that they thought they had a right to 'own').
He truly did get no rest. But he couldn't afford to so as long as the likes of Scarlet tainted this fair land.
So, on did Altamir fly, following the directions that Maroon gave for where Scarlet's palace was. Initially, Maroon had been very reluctant to give such, with both the SkyWing and Acorn having tried to dissuade Altamir from going after Scarlet. But after Altamir displayed and showed to them that, yes, he absolutely could and would take her on, the two had backed down and Maroon had then given the directions in question.
The directions in question were to follow the eastern edge of the mountain range until he found the palace, which was ALSO on the range's eastern edge, but, well, much further north.
And sure enough, he found the palace...though, he had to admit that he was very thrown off by how...different it looked from the SkyWing Palace that he had remembered. Did they tear it down and rebuilt it or something? Or did something happen to what was now the 'old' one? Or...
...no, no, no, focus! Focus! This was not the time for getting distracted by architecture! He had a tyrant to eliminate!
Now, where was the arena that she frequented...
...oh. Oh, for...
...well, there it was. The bloodstained cradle of death in this realm. The place where Scarlet got a kick, a 'thrill', out of making dragons whom she'd captured, imprisoned, or kidnapped fight each other to the death for her own entertainment. And it bore more than a passing resemblance to the Tarantine ones, clearly operating rather like them as well. "And I worked long and hard to put an end to such a practice like forcing other people to fight to the death for amusement back then...now she brings it back again?!"
Altamir took a harsh breath as, still invisible, he began approaching the arena from the air, trying to keep a handle on himself as best as possible as he moved in to assess just what exactly he was dealing with, and also weary to make sure that some SkyWing flying about didn't ram into him because it didn't see him (then again, he couldn't LET them see him, because he was about to topple their tyrant of a queen in the most lethal way possible).
As he slowly approached, he noted roughly one hundred or so pillars rising from either within the stands of the arena or around the arena itself, with what seemed to be dark wires running around the tops in rings. Initially, Altamir thought them to be a mere 'design choice'...but then he noticed how SkyWings in armor would fly two and from those tops...sometimes carrying dragons from other tribes...dragons who were clearly bound by in metal cuffs by their wrists, ankles, and wings, and metal collars by their necks. This grabbed Altamir's attention, so he flew upwards...and then he realized that this was a means of holding dragons prisoner (in a rather twisted means of 'saving space' on the ground), with these all mainly seeming to be IceWings, SandWings, and SeaWings. While briefly wondering why they seemed to be mostly of different tribes than SkyWings, Altamir then remembered Maroon making mention of there being a three-way war going on (of which the RainWings were the only tribe not involved) while warning Altamir to be careful about his mission.
Then, he flew down to about four hundred feet or so above the arena's sands...and what he heard and saw would have made him vomit if he had any less control over himself.
Down below, there was a Firescales SkyWing burning an IceWing by merely touching him, the latter screaming in agony as he was brutally scorched alive. This made Altamir's stomach flip end over end already, but what made it ten times worse was how the crowds in the stands were reacting to such a thing. Not with shock or horror, but with cheers and applause.
"So...this is some sort of twisted spectacle to them?!" Altamir couldn't help but mutter to himself. Devaluing and dehumanizing those from different polities, and having them die horrifically for the sake of 'entertainment'...it was bad enough when humans had been doing it to other humans back then...
...but dragons doing this to other dragons? Courtesy of the very same tribe that Karmin herself led so wisely?
She would've had a damn aneurysm if she'd seen this! Just what had Pyrrhia come to?! Had these dragons forgotten everything Karmin and all the other wise Queens from their history had taught them?!
Altamir had to hold his mouth shut with his hands just to keep himself from letting the last bit come blazing out of his mouth and giving him away. Roiling as he was at the moment, he HAD to keep cover until he could find a way to properly down Scarlet, so he couldn't let himself be revealed by shouting. Though, he did start putting some lateral distance between himself and the scene of the now deceased IceWing, whom the Firescales had finished basically burning inside out. Someone dying in a manner like that (unless they had done something vile enough to ABSOLUTELY deserve it...to which there was NO indication that the IceWing had done such a thing)...it disturbed him just as much as it did everyone else, so he wanted to not be 'up close and personal' to that while he was figuring out a plan to eliminate the tyrant.
As he backed up horizontally, though, Scarlet (if that was the one wearing the jewel-encrusted breastplate) was laughing. "Ooohohohohoho...ah, what a wonderful, marvelous, thrilling, show, as it always is!" Altamir's revulsion only grew once he laid eyes on her smug face and heard her ear-grating voice, and especially after he heard yet more applause for the mad queen's exultation as he hovered over that audience.
But the queen wouldn't shut the hell up like Altamir would have loved her to at least do. "Though, I must say that I do have an announcement to make. As I am sure that everyone in this realm knows, tomorrow is my 40th hatching day! So, to celebrate the occasion, as I always do, I wish to arrange for a special show to be put on!"
Yet more applause followed this announcement. Whether it was genuine or forced, Altamir could not tell...one could guess it was a mix of the two, as tyrants like this tended to have certain equally insane adherents who were blindly loyal no matter how horrific the atrocities that their 'lieges' committed.
But then, the queen looked in Altamir's direction. Altamir was invisible, and he hadn't made a sound (thankfully), so there was no way that she was looking at him. She had to be looking at something near or behind him, then...so, what and why...?
Altamir got his answer for the 'why' part before he could finish his thought. "Earlier today, my guards and I stumbled upon something most ridiculous - a group of vagrant dragons claiming to be of the 'Talons of Peace' who were living quite literally under MY mountain without even knowing who I am! And I'm the QUEEN of this tribe!" The crowds laughed at the apparent farce of such a thing - Altamir himself might have admitted that such a 'feat' of not even knowing who the Queen was while living under her mountain was rather impressive in a way had the Queen in question not been a monstrous tyrant (and that's if she was being honest; she might have been pulling things out from under her tail, so to speak) - before she continued. "Hmm...how to fix that...I know! I'll give them a nice 'guided tour' of my arena...with my champion as the 'guide'! Ah, yes, that will be a grand and thrilling time - a perfect fit for the occasion! Let's see how far those upstart, self-proclaimed 'Dragonets of Destiny' in particular can get before they're nothing but ashes!"
This elicited the loudest round of applause yet, louder than the previous rounds. But that was not the thing that he heard that really caught his ear. Nor was it the thing that made him freeze mid-air.
Rather, it was the mention and usage of a certain three-word phrase. One that he'd known well, and all too well, at that, from a certain, particular nightmare that he'd had while his own Dragon Companions were still alive.
"Dragonets of...Destiny?" Altamir muttered in surprise as he started looking around... "H...How does she know of such...? When and...where did she-"
...?!
"-NGH?!"
Altamir couldn't help, nor stop, the sudden, startled noise of shock and horror that left him as he then saw what was right behind where he'd stopped mid-air. It was a sight that made his blood freeze.
Merely twenty feet away from him were the bars of a giant cage. A cage that was hanging from a different, thicker, overhead bar running from the side of one pillar to the side of another pillar. It was already the case to begin with that looking at a dragon-sized cage (and just the general IDEA of one) made him weary...
...but what, or rather who, was inside...that was what made it a thousand times worse.
In the cage were a group of five dragonets, all chained, cuffed, and collared, and all crammed together within. There was an Orange-Brown MudWing, a Blue SeaWing, a predominantly-Green (albeit dull-scaled) RainWing, a Purplish/Bluish-Black NightWing, and a SandWing...possibly SandWing/NightWing hybrid...and they all looked to be 5, 6...maybe 7 years old at most? He didn't know their names, and he didn't know who they really were...
...but that mattered little compared to how he was basically in that same nightmare again, with the grotesque difference being that, this time, it was for real. Down to seeing the same fear and hopelessness on these poor dragonets as he did the ones in that nightmare...
...or were these the exact same dragonets? Was that nightmare not so much one as it was...a vision?
Either way...no.
No. No, no, no.
He couldn't let it happen.
He couldn't let Scarlet have her way.
He had to do something. He couldn't let them die like that. These Dragonets were too young to die, and certainly did not deserve to get burned alive inside out like that poor IceWing did. This need was punctuated as he looked back over and realized that now that same Firescales was burning alive ANOTHER dragon, this time a SandWing.
He HAD to save these Dragonets...but do it in a way so that the Queen's minions wouldn't come after him and them. That, and he needed to kill that same Tyrant Queen.
He needed a plan.
In that moment, wrath towards a tyrant and fear for the lives of five young souls undeserving of such a grisly fate that same tyrant intended for them...those two things came together and combined.
And from those things combining, the same grim determination that he had felt back when he led those wars against Wērōd and Honorius came roaring back. And the cunning and experience from having led those wars and downed various other tyrants during his long reign came back with it.
And as he looked each of those Dragonets in the eyes as he hovered in the cold winter air, even if they couldn't see him, Altamir knew what was to be done.
"Dragonets of Destiny, if that's who you are..." Altamir silently vowed, "...just as I did long ago for those enslaved by Wērōd and Honorius...I will do again for you. I will deliver you from this captivity by Scarlet, and I will learn your names and see that fear and despair banished from your eyes and faces. I will bring that mad queen down from the spinning spheres, and drop her miserably into the jaws of Tamag. Erlik Khan awaits her!"
So, with a silent request to the late Karmin to forgive her foolish tribe (and to forgive him as well for likely having to kill a fair few members of that tribe in the process here), and with a cracking of his knuckles, Altamir set off to start putting together that plan. That plan to rescue these Dragonets and topple the tyrant queen as she richly deserved to be.
Any good plan that was going to be made in a situation like this would require some intel, as just about anyone could tell, let alone Altamir, so that was exactly what he set as he staked out the Arena and began scouting it and the main Palace for things that he could find to aid his plan, as well as potential obstacles and complications that he'd need to plan around, all the while using yet more manifestations of his 'powers' to monitor that cage to make sure that whatever those guards did with it (and/or the dragonets inside) would not escape his notice.
By the gods, had he developed so many different ways to use such things, either out of necessity or just because. Granted, he HAD lived for a very, very, very long time...so of course he would over the years. Either way, though, as he now put several of them to work at once (particularly the 'invisibility' and 'wingless flight' ones), he was glad that he'd developed such things as he flew in and out of the palace and arena through halls, passageways, windows, and the like, avoiding crashing into any SkyWings as he scoured those and the various rooms, nooks, crannies, and whatnot, and leaving no stone unturned as he looked for anything (and perhaps anyone) useful or important that he could find.
Well, he certainly ended up finding a lot, to say the least. How well-equipped the guards were, how well they were trained, how they generally acted and behaved, where they were stationed, where and when their patrol ran, for instance, as well as other things like the general layout of the arena and the palace, more of the general workings of the arena, and even some important individuals, including, particularly, who the Crown Princess was; he was to become a tyrant-slayer, yes, but he was NOT going to plunge this particular realm into anarchy, no matter how much it disgusted him to see that audience applauding Scarlet's debauchery, so knowing who her heir was would absolutely be very important.
Though, given the type of dragon that Scarlet was as a queen and in general, he really should have expected at least some of these findings to be disturbing, and he did with regards to the arena.
What he wasn't expecting was to find that she apparently had an animus dragon (well, in a sense, at least) at her service.
How did he find out?
Well, he found two different dragons who had been each forcibly turned into different dragons. He had only ever heard of this happening in myths, legends, and historical records by the time he came about, and it had never happened during his lifetime because Altamir kept animus dragons in check by making it a requirement that they be sent to him as soon as their animus status was discovered so that he could ensure that them using their powers wouldn't drive them mad (yes, he knew how to ensure such a thing, and it had very likely saved the continent a great deal of trouble while he'd reigned over it) and also ensure that they would use them properly, and know not to abuse their powers or otherwise use them for immoral purposes.
He'd done a good job of making sure such a thing hadn't happened...and yet here there were two whole examples of it happening.
Given that these were things that he'd never encountered before, and how disturbing it was that this was a thing...he very strongly felt that he needed to investigate both instances...though he also was aware that he needed to do so quickly and be careful to not get sidetracked. Now, obviously, it would normally be the case for the average sort that trying to investigate two animus-enchanted dragons who were (at least apparently) members of an enemy-regime-ruled tribe while he was right in the heart of such an enemy's territory would be a fool's errand, and would only end up one way.
But Altamir, much as he loathed the idea of flaunting it, was no 'average sort'.
Over the years, he'd further and further developed what was previously merely his mindreading-related abilities and had taken it so that now it was well beyond just that. Now, when he wished to 'go into someone's mind', he didn't need to actively be looking at them at the moment. Rather, he'd simply have needed to have seen or heard or otherwise encountered them at all at any time, whether in the present, or previously. Not only this, but he could then apply the same thing to the individual whose mind he'd 'gone into', and could then 'jump' to yet another individual's mind. His ability to look through someone's mind was increased as well, to the point where he could basically, in a sense, go 'back in time', and through quite literally every detail about someone, even ones that they themselves either forgot about or otherwise didn't remember. The apogee of all of this was that he could combine both things together to even look through someone who was presently deceased, and could then continue the 'jumping' with other deceased people from before then provided the aforementioned 'did they encounter' requirement was fulfilled. All of this put together allowed Altamir to find the truth of many things, and correct both mistakes and deliberate forgeries in historical records. For instance, he was able to write a proper record of his ancestor Jangar's life, leading to the latter becoming one of the most beloved historical figures on Pyrrhia. Not to mention that he could pinpoint with perfect accuracy who had, say, committed a crime, and whether or not someone was either innocent or guilty of such a thing.
Now, of course, he still had to actively be using such abilities 'manually', and could not do so passively or automatically, so he had to pick the right time and place to do so, as if he didn't, he ran the risk of being distracted and something happening while this was going on...but that was how it always had been with such abilities, and given that Altamir could do such things silently and while remaining hidden, he had ways to work around this issue. Regardless, in the present, Altamir was combining such abilities with yet another one that he'd discovered that he had from those years: the ability to detect animus magic, be it those who could use it, or any enchantments or spells or curses that they'd cast/placed. With the latter, he could analyze such things, what they did, and who cast or placed them, and he could then use the aforementioned 'beyond mind-reading' abilities to figure out why the animi in question cast or placed them and for what reasons and/or purposes, be they benign or malignant.
Putting all of these abilities to joint work, Altamir had been able to find a wealth of information about this case without burning too much daylight or drawing any attention to himself...and it was disturbing. As for who the two dragons were...
Well, one of them was, in fact, the aforementioned Crown Princess, Princess Ruby...or, as she actually was, Princess Tourmaline. The other of them was a female SkyWing named Pyrite...or as HE (yes, he) actually was, Prince Hailstorm of the IceWings. In Ruby/Tourmaline's case, Tourmaline was a strong-willed, determined princess who was set on challenging Scarlet for the throne (i.e. fighting her to the death for it), so Scarlet had 'worked around' this by having her be enchanted to be weak-willed and submissive to her, and to never be able to win such a 'challenge'; the enchantment had also changed her appearance from a bright-orange SkyWing to a dark-maroon one, and made it so that she could not remember her time as Tourmaline, something that had been exploited by Scarlet, who had used the opportunity to lie that a Firescales SkyWing named "Peril" was somehow responsible for 'Tourmaline's Death', when in reality, it was clear that this "Peril" had never done such a thing. Though, due to the time crunch that Altamir faced, he wasn't quite able to figure out in detail on who this "Peril" was other than that she was a Firescales...was she that same Firescales doing all the killing in the arena on Scarlet's behalf as her champion? Was that why Scarlet was able to lie so 'convincingly' to 'Ruby' that she'd done such a thing, because, given her status as Scarlet's champion, it wouldn't necessarily be 'unlike' her to do so?
Questions for later, as there was also the matter of Pyrite/Hailstorm...and Altamir found this instance to be particularly unnerving. For one thing, it was not only the case that Hailstorm was an IceWing Prince who had been captured by Scarlet a year previously, but he was a DRAGONET at that (only 5 years old, roughly equivalent to a 14-year-old human boy, when it had happened), and he'd been captured because he'd been taking his little brother, Winter (who was 3 years old at the time, equivalent to a 12-year-old human boy) to go see a "scavenger den" in in SkyWing territory, as Winter had apparently had a fondness and great interest with regards to these "scavengers". Now, obviously, one could absolutely question the logic of going into enemy territory to do such a thing, but that didn't change that what had happened to Hailstorm was both undeserved and utterly disgusting. Under the forced guise of Pyrite (which was a particularly cruel form of imprisonment), he was magically compelled to be completely loyal to Queen Scarlet and the SkyWing tribe, to be insecure and weak, to have no memory of his or her former identity, and to wear the necklace containing the enchantment at all times with life-or-death urgency. It was particularly insulting, as Hailstorm was apparently a talented and skilled young prince in a variety of things, so to be forced to be anything BUT that...by the gods, how beyond humiliating. At least Winter had apparently managed to escape...but the poor boy had to have been missing his older brother dearly.
Altamir was now very glad that he had never encountered such cases before now...because this was among the most disturbing things that he'd ever encountered. Being actively forced and compelled to be something that one was not by way of some magical artifact with no way to break it on one's own...that had to be nothing short of horrifying...he couldn't imagine what Tourmaline and Hailstorm were going through.
Though, as for the dragon who had cast such enchantments and spells and whatnot, it turned out to be a RainWing named Chameleon who was the culprit. A RainWing who wasn't actually technically an animus himself, but, using this animus-enchanted scroll, could not only cast these spells and enchantments, but even used it to be able to shift between four other guises; an accessory-wearing MudWing named Bog, an IceWing named Cirrus, a NightWing named Shapeshifter (a name that was a dead-giveaway), and a spiked-collar-wearing SkyWing named Soar (ah, so that's who that was). Apparently, the scroll itself was made by this Night/Ice hybrid named "Darkstalker", though, once again, his being pressed for time meant that he couldn't really afford to look into who this "Darkstalker" was.
Either way, though, now, his mission had an additional set of objectives: free Tourmaline and Hailstorm from their respective enchantments, and rescue Hailstorm in particular from his captivity under the SkyWings. Though, given the current...situation...doing those things was going to be tricky. He knew full well about that, and that he would have to think about how to do such, especially when it came to working around Chameleon. Whatever plan he did make, he'd have to be quick in executing it so that Chameleon would be too slow to cast any sort of enchantment or spell to stop him.
Regardless, his scouting and staking out of the arena and the palace while effectively keeping extra sets of eyes on certain objectives continued on throughout the rest of the day...though, given that it was bitterly cold, he had to make sure to check on those five dragonets to make sure that they didn't get hypothermia or frostbite (especially since the only one of them that likely had any sort of real resistance to the cold was the SandWing/NightWing hybrid one, and that came from her SandWing side; the other four were from tribes who lived in climes that, generally-speaking, DID NOT get this cold, so they were huddling around her in particular in there). To this end, he took to discreet, stealthy means of keeping them warm and preventing them from falling victim to such things. Yes, his capabilities with healing magic had ALSO greatly improved with time and absolutely could reverse such things, but it was better to never have to use them in the first place.
Eventually, the sun set to conclude the day, and nighttime was approaching. Altamir may have had a great deal of endurance, but even he would have to get some rest...especially when it came to what he was going to do tomorrow morning. He was in the final stages of putting together a plan...though he wanted to make sure that he took some things into account.
Particularly this "Peril".
Yes, that very same Firescales SkyWing. The one who was this mad queen's 'champion', or rather, flash-fire butcher. Now, Altamir did generally feel bad for those SkyWings who were afflicted with Firescales, as it meant that they would never be able to live normally, and he was all for making sure that they could get some form of employment...but this was not the sort he was in favor of. At all. Whatsoever. Particularly since, again, she seemed to think very little doing such a thing on Scarlet's behalf, and that she was supposed to do to those Dragonets whom he was trying to save the very same thing that she'd done to...at least five other dragons today alone, as far as Altamir had seen for himself.
Needless to say, he could not let that happen...and he particularly loathed the idea of someone blowing off burning those poor Dragonets alive. So, he was relatively set on the fact that, if it came to where she was intending to do that, then he would have to eliminate her just as he would the mad queen she served, and he decided to finally see her up close for himself to confirm his decision...
...and yet, he managed to get himself thrown for a loop.
Altamir found the Firescales SkyWing, her orange scales glowing like a fire in a pit, in a relatively empty corner of the arena that was high up and had no guards posted around (probably because, given where it was, there was nothing to gain from having guards posted there). He'd heard that old anecdote many times about how many didn't reveal who and what they truly were until they were either under duress or in private, and the latter part of that was admittedly why he was doing this. To be honest, he didn't exactly know what he was going to find when he did this...though given her apparent blaséness from killing the various prisoners that Scarlet basically spoon-fed to her, at least part of him was expecting her to be either laughing or joking to herself about those kills, or conniving to herself about what killing methods to use next. Or both.
Then he actually saw her for himself up close (albeit still invisible)...and those particular notions went out the window.
For one thing (and he was now kicking himself for not having picked up on this or her being generally smaller than her probably-generally-adult 'opponents' earlier), he quickly realized that Peril was, age wise...just a dragonet herself. By his guess once he properly saw her up close and gauged her size compared to the average adult dragon, she was, at most, probably a year or so older than those five dragonets he was seeking to save, and was either the same age as Hailstorm or also a little older than him, and that was it (so, probably 6 on a low estimate and 8 on a high estimate...equivalent-wise, she'd be a 15-17 year old girl if she was a human). Damn it, he had been considering killing a dragonet.
For another thing (and in something ELSE that made him reconsider killing her)...there was her personality and how she carried herself. To Altamir's surprise, there was this sort of...awkward shyness to her. It was as though she was the type to make herself look as small as possible and shrink away from other dragons, to be surprised when someone offered to talk to her, and he could see in her blue eyes that there was a...lostness to her, as if she didn't know what to do, where to go, or who to go to. Perhaps she was aware of how the other dragons regarded her as a 'monster'. Perhaps, going by her eyes, which looked just as sad as those of the five dragonets did last time he looked at them, she herself even agreed with such assumptions about her. It was a massive contrast to how, in the ring, she'd come across as a sadistic, maniacal demon just as mad as her Queen who needed to be similarly eliminated...and it came across as though her self in the ring and her self that he was now looking at were two different dragons altogether. Here, even though she was likely at least 30 feet long from her nose to the base of her tail (and likely at least 14-15 feet tall at the shoulder were she standing up), she still managed to look so...small, like a lost child seriously needing proper direction.
He couldn't kill a dragonet like this. Especially not one who seemed so...sad.
Altamir mentally admitted to himself that it was not very often that he could go so quickly from wanting to kill someone to wanting to hug them...but that was exactly how he felt about Peril here. Best guess, this poor girl was probably being used as nothing but a tool by Scarlet for the latter's own entertainment.
So...was this a SEVENTH dragonet he was having to rescue for Scarlet?! Altamir was starting to feel as though things were headed that way - by the gods, the number kept rising - and he began to seriously consider adding yet another objective of turning her away from the mad queen to his already somewhat-complicated mission...
...and then Peril did something that pushed him to the other side of the fence and made it impossible not to do so.
"...huh? Oh...uh...hey there, little birdie..."
Altamir watched as the dragonet's attention was drawn to a bird that was stuck on an icy surface by the feet and was flapping manically in a fruitless struggle. It was a pitiful sight...one that was definitely painful to look at.
Peril clearly agreed, a desire to help the poor bird clearly intent in her eyes as she slowly and gingerly approached the stuck little creature.
"I know I'd probably burn you if I came too close to you, little guy..." Peril clearly acknowledged the blazing heat radiating from her due to her condition, "but maybe I can thaw you without burning you if I'm...this far away from you?"
As she said this, she then laid down a distance of at least fifteen feet or so from the bird. Far enough away that her scales wouldn't cook or roast the poor bird alive, but clearly still close enough that she could quickly melt the ice sticking the bird down and also warm the poor thing up to the point where it could fly away.
And sure enough, in less than a minute, the bird was unstuck and flying away, and Peril seemed adorably pleased with herself when that happened. "Okay, bye bye, birdie! Glad I could help you! Good luck!" Though, after the bird flew away, she sank to the floor and sighed as her joy faded away. "Well...I wish I could help someone else like that...but every other time I touch someone, I set them on fire instead..."
Alright...that did it, that was it. He was NOT leaving this poor girl behind in this mad queen's playground.
But in that case, he needed to see just what exactly he was dealing with here. And in order to do that...
...he would have to talk to her.
So, at least to her, he decided that he would reveal himself by way of 'adding an exception' for her to his having turned invisible to everyone else but himself...with a bit of a lead-in.
"Oh, I promise you...there are ways to do that even with your condition. More than a few, actually."
"...really? You...You mean I...?" Peril lit up at hearing this (again, adorably)...but then she became very confused, obviously because she couldn't see who was talking to her as she looked around. "...uh, who's talking to me? Who said that?"
Then, as she was looking around, Altamir revealed himself in front of her by adding that 'exception', and then dispelled all doubt. "That would be me."
Altamir watched as Peril laid eyes on his form, her eyes gradually going wider and wider, until...
"...uh...WAAH?! WHA-WHA-WHAT IN THREE-GAH-" *THUMP* "-ACK-! Y...YOU CAN TALK?! A...A T-TALKING-?!"
After taking a few seconds to react, Peril was so startled that, when she shot up, she tripped over her own tail and fell over on her back, and Altamir had to dodge her thrashing tail and wings as she flailed about like an overturned turtle. A giant one with burning scales that left a hotspot where she'd been previously laying the other way up, that was.
"Alright, alright, not so loud." Altamir said with a little bit of exasperation. "And yes, I can talk. Mouth's moving, you're hearing words from me, that sort of thing, right? Guess you just...never met someone like me before? Or you just don't have that many dragons who talk to you? Something like that?"
"I...I...uh...I mean...y-yeah? K-Kinda?" Peril did her best at what was clearly a shrugging motion while still on her back. That, and her face that had that sort of "awkward smile" on it...if there was any response Altamir would have had to someone questioning him on why he'd find such a dragonet to be adorable...
"Heh...I've met a few who react to my voice this way." Altamir chuckled and then shrugged. "They never expect something this deep from someone as 'tiny' as I am. Every time it happens, I can just see 'what is that shorty doing with a voice like that' written all over the faces."
Peril giggled like a hatchling before outright laughing. Adorable as that was, Altamir mentally admitted that the whole 'contrasting his voice with his height/size' as joke material was rather basic...though, given that and how she didn't say no on the 'not many dragons talking to her' question...oh dear, Peril really didn't have anyone who was willing to engage with her like this, didn't she?
When her laughter subsided, Altamir stepped just a little bit closer to her. "Alright, so...you're...Peril, right?"
"Eheheheh...uh...yeah, that's me?"
"Ah, good, don't want to get any sort of 'mistaken identity' here." Altamir then looked at his hand for a bit before introducing himself to her. "So, uh, my name in particular is Altamir, sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I'm here for a...let's just say 'a reason'."
"A 'reason'? Which one?"
"I'll tell you in a bit." Then, Altamir took another step towards her. "Though, before I do that, I want to show you a little 'talent' of mine. Don't panic..."
"'Don't panic'? What do you..." And then, Altamir began walking towards Peril, while the latter was still on her back, and she began panicking. "Wait, no, no no no please don't-!"
Right as she was, though...Altamir touched Peril on the side of her shoulder. Even though she was a Firescales.
Oh, there was certainly an enormous amount of heat that he felt in his hand, and in general. But Altamir...didn't feel any pain that came with that heat. Nor was his hand burning or getting any burns on it. Not even the clothes on his body were getting burnt.
"...huh? Why are you...why are you not burning or on fire?" Peril asked, bewildered.
"I did say it was a 'talent' of mine." Altamir answered with a sly grin. "Among many more." Though, he then turned a bit more serious. "Would I be correct in supposing that you're generally afraid of others touching you like this, because they'll burn to ashes when they touch you?"
"...yeah. I am." Peril nodded...but then her face lit up again. "Wait...so...you can touch me. You...I don't have to worry about burning you, Altamir?"
"Exactly." Altamir smiled...but he then motioned for her to quiet down again. "Keep it down, though. I know this is exciting for you that you can't burn me and all...but I'm about to tell you as to why I'm here, and...well, let's just say we need to be quiet about it, as it's something that I'd rather it be only between you and me."
"Uh...okay then...er...should I...sit up and..."
"Actually, I'd rather you stay laying down while I talk to you about this, Peril." Altamir was fully aware that what they were going to discuss was likely to make her faint...he didn't want her falling and hurting herself or worse. "It's for a good reason."
"Uh...okay?"
So...the conversation began. Altamir knew right away that it was going to be a rather awkward one, but if he was going to get this poor dragonet away from Scarlet, it needed to happen.
Altamir began by asking Peril a series of questions with regards to how she lived on a day-to-day basis, what specifically she did for Scarlet and why, how Scarlet had found her in the first place, and what she thought of Scarlet. Peril answered truthfully each time...though he should have expected to be disgusted by what answers he got (not AT Peril, of course, but rather FOR her...he hid it from her regardless).
So, apparently, the SkyWings had developed (or rather, resurrected, as Altamir knew it, given that it had been a common practice before Jangar's reign) a horrid tradition of throwing Firescales hatchlings off of high mountains to kill them; this was apparently supposed to be Peril's fate, but Scarlet supposedly rescued her...'supposedly', given what kind of dragon Scarlet was, and that was if she was being honest; already, Altamir was very sure that Scarlet would lie about things as easy as breathing. This suspicion was proven rapidly correct as Peril repeated what Altamir could tell as being an extremely blatant lie that Scarlet had most definitely put in poor Peril's head...namely, that she supposedly needed to eat black rocks, which Altamir suspected was likely coal, every day in order to survive with Firescales, and that the one time she didn't because she was upset that Scarlet wouldn't tell her more about her mother, she got very, very sick.
Yes, Firescales indeed could not live normally due to their condition and did need special attention, but eating coal was a 'quack' method at best, and Altamir, who'd attained centuries of medical knowledge, highly suspected that the 'coal eating' lie was a method to control Peril and keep her at the palace/arena, and that the real reason as to why Peril had gotten sick was because Scarlet had poisoned her. Other things that Altamir could tell right away were neither normal nor acceptable was Peril recounting being kept in a cage of this coal at a year and a half old (NO responsible adult dragon would ever put a dragonet in a cage), or when Scarlet had her burn nearly all of an entire batch of dragon eggs on the "Brightest Night" at roughly around that time (on an unrelated note, that meant that Peril was, or was at least roughly, 7 and a half years old), or how Scarlet generally treated her in various ways that any good, sane, or responsible human or dragon would regard as abuse and maltreatment, particularly the (false) notion that every other dragon saw her as a "monster", and that only Scarlet could love her...and Peril told him all of this in a very casual tone that made it clear that it was lost on her just how messed up and just plain abominable her situation was. This, along with the whole 'being taught only how to kill dragons in horrible ways in the arena' and how the gravity of that was lost on her...
...that only made it clear to Altamir that Scarlet was manipulating and just plainly abusing poor Peril into being a puppet, a pawn for killing, and that getting her away from the mad queen was just as vital as the other objectives were now.
If he wanted to do that, he'd need to show Peril that Scarlet was lying, and to point out every single lie or disgusting, abominable thing about how Scarlet was treating her and why she was keeping her at the arena.
So, still doing his damndest to not explode with rage as he was doing so, that was exactly what he did. Peril was initially confused about Altamir telling her that Scarlet had lied an awful lot, but as he got to it and then continued doing so, the poor dragonet gradually became horrified as her entire 'world' unraveled around her, particularly when Altamir then moved on to what Maroon had told him about Scarlet, and multiple times Altamir had to stop her from seeking out Scarlet and keep her laying down, both for her health and safety, and because Scarlet would most likely not only be unapologetic and un-remorseful, but would likely also just pile lies on top of lies unless she could use the truth to simply harm Peril further.
By the end of it...poor Peril. Poor, poor Peril. The poor thing had had her world turned completely inside out, and it broke Altamir's heart to see just how...shattered she was by these revelations (the faint stream of steam escaping her beautiful blue eyes clearly being only one thing)...particularly when she asked, with a tiny, wobbling voice more befitting a dragonet a mere hundredth of her size:
"A-Altamir...am I...am I an...an evil m-monster? I-Is what I-I'm doing...e-evil? I d-don't wanna be an...an e-evil m-monster...I...I...!"
Altamir sighed raggedly, beyond furious at what Scarlet had done to Peril, but sound-enough of mind to remember his plan and his objectives, and that the best way to avenge Peril's suffering was sticking to that plan and adjusting it accordingly. To refocus himself and clear his head a bit, he decided to claim an honor that no one else ever could, Scarlet notwithstanding.
So, he strode forward to the sobbing Firescales dragonet...
...and wrapped his arms around Peril's snout.
Normally, and obviously, embracing a Firescales SkyWing like this would basically be a guaranteed way of ending one's own life for both human and dragon alike. But certain MudWings who hatched from blood-red eggs had the ability to not get burnt or harmed by flames or fire-breath or whatnot, so they could touch a Firescales without being burnt to a crisp. Altamir had a similar ability, having accidentally discovered it when a SkyWing sneezed flames on him, and his immunity in this regard seemed to also extend to anything (or anyone, as was occasionally the case with the latter) he was wearing or holding.
This was absolutely not the first time that he'd managed to gain a Firescales' trust by hugging them. Being able and willing to do something like that when no one else would or could...it always did wonders in that regard, and for those Firescales' mental states, showing them that there was someone out there who didn't fear or hate them for their condition, and that they were just as deserving of love as everyone else. Poor Peril needed this more than anything else right now.
And sure enough, Altamir's embrace around Peril's snout, while getting a surprised squeak out of her, was something that she clearly greatly appreciated, given that her sobbing quieted down, and that she even leaned into it as he gently patted her snout with one of his hands.
He held the dragonet like that for a little while, before pulling back a little bit so that he could look Peril in her eyes.
"No, Peril," he told her, "you're not an evil monster. No, what's happened here is that the actual 'evil monster' has been using you as a tool for living and attaining her twisted desires. Yes, I'm talking about Scarlet. She's the one who is evil, she's the one who is a monster and THE monster. That that's the sort of dragon that she is, and her also being a Queen at the same time...that's the reason why I came here in the first place. I'm on a mission against her."
"A mission?"
"Indeed...a mission. See, the one who sent me here was Maroon, a SkyWing who is actually one of Scarlet's own sons...but who fled the palace because he feared for his life. Basically, my aim for that mission here is killing Scarlet. If you're worried about redeeming yourself, Peril...well, perhaps you could aid me here in this mission?"
"Uh..." Peril was silent for a few seconds, before nodding. "...yeah?"
"Ah, good. Now, then, I've been putting together a plan..."
So, Altamir finally gained an ally, a teammate, when it came to his plan. His plan to take down Scarlet, replace her with a (hopefully) much better Queen, and make off with seven dragonets whom she'd captured/kidnapped (Peril herself included).
First, with regards to those five dragonets, he'd have Peril strategically position herself in front of the cage holding them. Peril's Firescales condition made her very feared, obviously, so it would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the various guards to work up the courage to remove the dragonets from the cage to drag them to the arena sands. Additionally, since it was still freakishly cold, weather-wise, it would also keep the dragonets in question warm, allowing Altamir to be able to focus on other things than having to manually do such a task. As for those five dragonets themselves, Altamir would make sure that they'd be asleep during all of this, as if they were awake during this and saw what he would be doing, they would likely be absolutely terrified by this mysterious tempest of a figure dicing apart all of the guards and soldiers around them...and Altamir couldn't have that happen. No, he couldn't have that happen at all.
Second, with regards to Tourmaline and Hailstorm, he'd prepare a few different things for those two. With Tourmaline, once Scarlet was dead, he would, long-distance, completely deactivate the spell/curse on her that forced her to be "Ruby", and turn her back to normal, and then, once he got himself, Peril, and the five dragonets out of the arena, he'd send her a mental 'message' warning her to cease the practice of forcing dragons to fight and die in the arena against their will and to either release all of the prisoners or at the very least 'house' and treat them properly and with some dignity...or else the one who killed her mother and all those guards/soldiers would come back for a second round. Then, once he and what would become his little entourage WERE out of the arena, he'd warp "Pyrite" to himself and knock "her" out, turn "her" back into Hailstorm, and find a way to erase the memories of his time as "her" so that the effects wouldn't be damaging or permanent upon his mental state (he'd heard in tales and legends and read from historical records that dragons who were forcibly turned into other dragons by way of animus wouldn't properly recover from such a thing unless such a process happened).
And finally, with regards to how he'd kill Scarlet herself...well, Altamir would simply wait there with Peril in front of that cage until the time was right, with Peril having a few excuses on talon as for why she'd been standing there. When that time came (probably when Scarlet called upon Peril for whatever reason), he would then reveal himself, while wearing armor as to disguise how he looked without it, and then he'd kill Scarlet with an 'arrow' right to her head in front of the arena. Once he did that, he'd then set about cutting, hacking, slashing, slicing, and splitting apart each and every SkyWing Soldier or Guard that he spotted within or around the arena. This would cause the rest of the SkyWings at the arena to be too terrified to go after whoever the blazes it was, as well as cause a disorganized panic that would give him, Peril, and the cage and its "contents" the perfect time to vanish amidst the chaos.
It was a plan...and he would start putting it into practice once the sun rose again.
Sure enough, Altamir (who went to sleep early in a hidden location) and Peril were both up early the next morning to initiate this plan. Soon, they were soon standing in front of that cage, the dragonets inside snoozing away thanks to a spell that Altamir had put on them to make sure that they'd remain asleep until he took the spell off, Altamir himself still invisible to all but Peril (and also wearing armor, which was also affected by the 'invisibility', as it also extended to anything he wore or held), and Peril herself making whatever necessary excuses for standing in front of that cage; to a soldier who asked why she was standing there, she simply said that she felt like watching things from up here and that she'd move when the time came for her 'matches', and that her warming the dragonets up would ensure that there'd be a nice bit of challenge in her 'fight' against them, and then when Scarlet herself asked her as to why she was standing there, Peril repeated the same 'challenge' excuse, as well as that she wanted to make her entrance to her first 'match' a nice show for the crowd. All of these excuses were apparently taken at face value by the guards/soldiers and Scarlet, the latter even laughing and saying that that was 'the spirit'.
Everything was going good so far. It didn't seem like anyone suspected a thing about what was with Peril. The guards and soldiers were unaware, the crowds were unaware, and especially Scarlet herself was unaware. All they needed to do was wait for the right moment, and...
"Umm...Altamir?"
"Hm?" Peril's (quietly asked) question drew him out of his thoughts.
"You know what they're talking about when they say 'scavengers', right?"
"I've heard them mention the word...what do they mean by it?"
"Well, uh...they're talking about your kind. Whatever your kind is actually called, anyways."
...?!
Wait...what? How the...how the hell would they not know that?! Humans and Dragons had been living together for thousands of years!
"...my kind are called 'humans', Peril." Altamir replied, confused. "Just 'human' if you're referring to just one of us."
"Oh...so that's what you guys are called? Okay..." Peril now looked nervous. "Uh...I brought this up because of the next fight that's about to happen."
"Next fight? What about it?"
"Well...so, there's this one SeaWing that's a prisoner here whose name is...'Gill', I think? Er, anyways...he refused to fight his opponent last time when Scarlet wanted him to, so she decided to make sure that he would 'be good and fight next time' by making sure he got no water until he was so desperate for it that he'd drink it from his opponent's blood."
Altamir's disgust for Scarlet's tyrannical madness hit an entirely new level with that reveal. Intentionally depriving a SeaWing of water until they went insane...that was one of the cruelest, most abominable things that a dragon could do to another dragon. Especially since SeaWings put under such situations usually never recovered, or at the very least not fully, and that while in such a state of insanity, they were a severe danger to EVERYONE around them, especially humans.
"That's fucking disgusting." Altamir couldn't help the invective-laced snarl that escaped his throat.
"I...I know." He could hear the wince in Peril's voice. "Well, I said about it because...uh...Scarlet wants to show off how 'ferocious' he is now by pitting him against two of your kind...two humans. There's...only one way that's gonna end. I think you...might wanna do something about that now."
...what was he hearing? Was Scarlet really...
...just how depraved could someone get?!
And then, before he could process what he was seeing and hearing with his own eyes...
...his blood froze as he then saw things unfold.
On one side of the sands, he saw the SeaWing. Gill, if that was he was...he wasn't so much 'walking' onto the sands so much as he was shambling onto them. He was literally foaming at the mouth, his eyes bloodshot, and snarling like a feral beast, a rabid animal. This was bad enough as it was...
...and then he saw the other side of the sands...where two humans were roughly shoved onto them, with only one possible reason for them being there.
To die for Scarlet's sick, twisted, demented, depraved pleasure.
As Altamir tried to believe what the hell was going on, Gill rushed forward in a scrambling sprint towards the two humans. One took off running to the side, while the other, clearly too paralyzed with fear to run, stood there like a deer facing an oncoming tornado...
...before dying with a horrific scream that was then cut off as Gill snapped the human up in his jaws and devoured the poor soul, and then started trying to eat the remaining blood out of the sand.
Altamir had never seen something like this...ever...and he'd hoped that he'd never have to...and yet he was seeing it with his own damn eyes!
Oh, by the gods, how there were times that he hated having them!
And as Gill then turned his attention in his mad haze to the other human, who was still trying to run, but clearly never going to escape the maddened SeaWing that was stalking him...Altamir snapped.
That was it...he'd fucking had it with this damn tyrant!
"Peril, stay here...I'm going NOW!"
When the last syllable left his mouth, Altamir was surging through the air away from where Peril was and descending upon the sands like a falling meteor. Long-form of his sword in hand, and it wreathed in flames and him enveloped in a fiery orange-red aura, and throwing to the wind his invisibility, he rocketed towards where Gill was as the latter was now rushing towards the other human, who had tripped over his own feet and fallen...
...and then as Gill then noticed him at the very last fraction of a second...
"USHAAAAAAAA!"
*SHNKSLASH!*
...Altamir, with a roar, swung his sword hard and well in a figure-eight motion, making a crater in the sand as he finally landed, only skidding a few body lengths because he magically slowed his momentum...before turning around.
Gill was standing there, as if frozen, for a few moments...before collapsing into at least three pieces, Altamir having horizontally bisected him through the chest and wing, and severed his head from his neck.
Altamir watched him do so with displeasure, having wished to never have to put a SeaWing out of such misery, before looking over to the human in question...who was sitting there a mere twenty feet away. Altamir saw and realized that the human in question was just a boy...probably only in his teens (perhaps 15 or so), and was clearly in shock and confusion. Not just with regards to what he'd gone through, but also how this...surprise savior had even done such a thing.
"Wh...Who are you? H-How did you...how did you..." The boy asked after a few seconds of silence.
"You'll find that out later." Altamir stiffly replied, rattled as to what he'd just had to save the boy from.
Then, Altamir leapt high into the air, much higher than any normal human could ever even hope to hop, before landing squarely in the center of the sands.
Speaking of silence...it was now eerily quiet. There was no cheering, there was no jeering, and there wasn't even anyone gasping. All of the audience...all of the guards and soldiers...and even (and ESPECIALLY) Scarlet herself...
...all were silent.
It was as if they had NEVER seen something like this happen in the arena before. They were utterly speechless.
After looking around the crowds and seeing this reaction from them, Altamir, still holding his long-form sword in his right hand, then turned her attention squarely upon Scarlet herself. He noted a quite large SandWing in a breastplate/cuirass standing there next to her, who seemed to be muttering or mouthing something, probably at what the hell she was seeing.
Then, the tyrant queen of the SkyWings found her words again. "What in...what is the meaning of this?! What in three moons is going on here?! How did a scavenger..."
"SCARLET!"
Altamir cut her off as he roared out the SkyWing Queen's name, pointing his sword at her from the sands as he now had her attention, being able to see her shock at hearing him.
"Queen of the SkyWings, Scarlet, was it? Is that you there next to that SandWing?"
Aaaaand...Altamir shall face off with Scarlet...stay tuned for the next chapter of Unscoured: Trials of the Great Khan!
Okay, jokes aside...yeah...this is gonna be a two-parter of a chapter. Had to split it up, because my original plan to have it be one big chapter would have probably made it ALSO push 20k words...and I am NOT going to have that happen. Also, I will admit that things with regards to Scarlet and the arena are different...but...well, there's a reason for that I'll reveal eventually.
Anyways, as for our favorite Aldy...he's back, and he's determined to save the day! The Dragonets of Destiny, Peril, and Hailstorm are in his sights for rescuing, and he's putting his plan to save them into motion!
Something's amiss, though...something has happened to Pyrrhia while he was dead. Where did all the humans go? Why do humans get called 'scavengers' by dragons now? Do Maroon and Acorn know something that he doesn't, given that they never told him much of anything about the relations between humans and dragons?
Also, those poor kids...the sooner Aldy gets them outta there, the better!